Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.   If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.  He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.  Deuteronomy 7:11-13 (NIV)

This week’s Bible verse is a simple reminder of who is in control of everything (hint: it’s God).  Yes, it is a simple truth but one that I think we need to remind ourselves of occasionally.  Of course, most God-honoring people know that God “blesses” but I think sometimes we lose sight of the specifics of what or how He blesses us.  That’s why this is our weekly verse…

Not only does God bless us in a generic sense but he also blesses materially as well.  He will bless “the crops of your land, … the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.”   This is another reminder to not separate out your “church” life from your “work” life.  We should not be people that do church and then do work and then ….   Instead, we should be Christians who recognize that God wants to be foremost in ALL of our lives: yes Sunday morning but also every morning.  He wants to be the most important thing in all aspects of our lives and has the capability to direct us and bless us in all aspects of our lives as well.  Seeing as this is a personal finance blog, I thought it appropriate to remind us who is really in control of our finances and wealth.

So don’t be a person who goes to church sometimes; rather, be a Christian who seeks to follow God’s commands in all areas of his/her life and therefore experiences all the blessings that God wants to put into your life.

God bless and have a great week…

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I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  Phil 4:11-13 (NIV)

Being content must be easier said than done considering how few people can actually live that way, at least in my society (myself included).  I truly believe that our inability to be “content” generates a tremendous number of problems in our world today.

Have you ever thought or uttered the following (surely you at least know someone who has):  “Sure, my house is fine but my neighbor has a bigger/nicer/newer (fill in the blank) house, patio, pool, car, etc.  What makes my neighbor so special…if he can have one of those, then I deserve one too!  Unfortunately, now that I’ve determined that I need one of those, I don’t have the money to spend to match my neighbor…but I do have a credit card!”  Follow that pattern a couple times and you’ll pretty quickly find yourself in an uncomfortable and ultimately untenable situation.

The alternative to falling into this destructive pattern is, of course, being content with what you have.  Being financially prudent in your purchases can pretty much be summed up in these two simple rules:

1. Make wise purchase decisions based on reality
2. Be content with those purchases

I think we all agree that being smart and then being content will drive us a long way down the path to winning with our finances.  I think we also all agree that a lot of people are not doing that.  Well, most of the rest of this blog is about the first step, so let’s focus on the second step here briefly.

In this week’s verse, Paul tells us that he was able to be content in all manner of circumstances.  Whether he was experiencing a time of want or a time of plenty, he was satisfied (and isn’t it really hard to be satisfied during a time of want that comes after a time of prosperity?).  How did he accomplish this – through the “secret” that he uncovered: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  “Him,” of course, is Jesus Christ.

Paul’s deep faith in Jesus provided him with real strength to confront those feelings of desire, lust, and envy that strike at us all.  I don’t think Paul is saying that he never experienced those emotions, just that he was imbued with the strength to put them aside and overcome them.  Exercising our faith forces us to shift our focus.  We no longer dwell on us, what we want and need.  Rather, we dwell on God and the eternal.  The “things” that tend to preoccupy us are reclassified as eternally insignificant and therefore no longer hold so much sway over us.

Faith in Jesus Christ provides us with the one thing that we really do need – our eternal salvation.  Shift your focus thusly and you may just see that having the most important thing will reduce your desire for the relatively insignificant ones.

God bless and have a great week..

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With the economy still in a decided downturn and foreclosures reaching all-time highs, now might seem like the worst time in recent history to think about remodeling your home. It certainly won’t be easy to get a loan or a line of equity on your house with the real estate market slow to rebound and banks pulling the purse-strings tighter and tighter. However, if you can find a way to scrape together a little cash, or if you’ve been saving, now is a great time for the frugal shopper to do some home upgrades.

For starters, a little can go a long way in this economy. Retail spending is, simply put, not what it was. Vendors that were thriving a few years ago are now being forced to slash prices and even close their doors. The point is, they want your business! And you can use it to your advantage. Shop around to find the products you want and you will be amazed at the discounts you discover (shopping online may be even more fruitful). Then go to several stores and find out if they are willing to price match or give you a better deal to stop you from going to the competition. You can often get an outrageous bargain just by asking for it. Also, if you’re on a tight budget, consider a merchant that sells reclaimed items (like flooring, cabinets, hardware, etc.). Although it may not be the newest product on the market, and it might have a little wear and tear, you can often find merchandise that has a higher value (in terms of construction, quality, materials, etc.) than you could get for the same price if you bought something new.

And that’s just the parts. You can also save on labor. Of course, there is always the do it yourself method, which is great for handy people. For the rest of us, a contractor is necessary to get the job done. And while contract work has a bad reputation for getting very pricey, very quick, we are currently in a buyer’s market. Building of new structures has slowed significantly and as a result, the market is flooded with contractors looking for work. If you seek several bids (make sure to get recommendations) you stand to save a lot of money on labor. That said, don’t be afraid to do some of the work yourself. Almost anyone can learn to install a backsplash, replace a lighting fixture, or swap out a faucet, so get yourself a home improvement guide to save even more.

Why wait to build your dream home? Even if you plan to upgrade as a way to get more value out of your house, you don’t have to wait until you’re ready to sell. Remodel now, while you can get the best price, and you stand to appreciate an even better return on your investment in a few years when the housing market rebounds. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy a custom-made interior in the mean time.

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Another volatile month sees us end up …. exactly where we started?

Our assets decreased 0.07%

As I look over our asset accounts, it appears that every balance has dropped slightly except for my stock options.  My stock options value increased almost 14% and that just about completely balanced out all the other drops.  Actually, that’s not exactly true – somehow our retirement accounts managed to increase slightly this month as well.

Our cash accounts have been dropping pretty quickly the last few months as we continue to pay off the large expenses related to our baby’s birth and adjust to living on one salary.  Overall, it did decrease again this month but by a much smaller amount that the previous few months.  I’m hoping that’s a good sign that we’re starting to get our spending in line with out income.

Our liabilities decreased 0.12%

Our mortgage dropped the standard 0.12% again this month.  I mentioned previously that our mortgage payment is by far our largest payment each month (well, it still is).  I think we’ll need to do something about this to get our expenses to meet up with our income, but I’m not exactly sure what to do about it at this point as our home value is much less than our mortgage balance.

Our net worth held steady

Well, this is the first month that has happened – our overall net worth basically did not budge from last month’s value.  I guess that’s a good thing.  Of course, I’d like to see it increasing but after a significant drop last month, I’m just happy it did not head even further south this month.

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And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?  Luke 13:11 (NLT)

I spend too much time thinking about, writing about, and discussing my finances.  You might have the same problem (it’s likely since you are reading a personal finance blog at this very moment!).  My wife often correctly tells me what I should worry less about our finances and trust God more in that area of our life.  Of course, she is correct but I do think that a healthy balance is needed in this area.  In fact, I think this week’s verse underscores the need to be proactive about being a good steward and taking care of your finances.

As it states, if we are “untrustworthy” with our worldly wealth, then we will never be trusted with heavenly riches.  It is therefore not appropriate to simply put our heads in the sand, ignore our finances, spend whatever we want, and then rely on God to make it all balance out at the end of the month (Reminds me of a Tim Hawkins routine: “Father, change the molecular structure of this food, this complete trash we’re about to shove in our gullet.  Change the cheeto into a carrot stick on the way down!”).  Remember that this is Jesus talking in this verse – Jesus Himself is reminding us that we need to be active in managing our finances to prove that we are capable of being entrusted with the “true riches of heaven.”

I would simply caution you not to go overboard and get so focused on money and your finances that they replace God as most important in your life.  Yes, be a good steward and manage your money faithfully, but your main purpose in life should still be to glorify God, not to spend every waking moment reading blogs, fretting about the stock market, and clicking on tweets that contain “get-rich-quick” schemes (oooh, maybe this one is legit)!  Again, accumulating wealth on earth should not be our end goal here;  our main goal is to be faithful to God with our finances to prove we are worthy of being entrusted with the true riches.

God bless and have a great week…

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“Charity” can be a loaded word that means something different to everyone. Charity can be pejorative, such as: “Those charity cases get money, sit on their backsides, and don’t work”. It can be a scornful word, meaning a break is being given because one is better than the other, for example: “Tom took the girl out on a charity date.”

It’s interesting how the word was first used, hundreds of years ago; “charity” meant “love”. It could almost be said that “charity” had a double meaning from the start. You give charity because you have charity. Charity, in its modern sense, means that we feel a kind of love when we give, even for those we may never meet.

People who need charity now, in large part, are people who never needed charity before. The ruined economy, predatory lenders, and the bank bailouts that helped no one except the banks have made a new class of poor in our country. Anyone who escaped relatively unscathed from the recent economic meltdown can thank their lucky stars by opening their wallets a little wider when it comes time to give to charity. Below are seven more very good reasons to give.

Tax Deductions

Lots of folks give to the charities of their choice for this reason. Others find it a nice reward for the charity they give. Whatever reason, give, keep the receipts, and claim it on next year’s taxes.

It Will Save You Money Long Term

This may sound in essence a bit cold, but here goes. Children who receive a good education, have someone who cares about them, and eat nutritious meals are more apt to finish school and stay out of trouble. Donate to boys and girls clubs, local schools, food banks and free lunch programs, or some other charity that helps out kids. You won’t have to pay in the future for new prisons, for one thing, and if spending for prisons isn’t throwing your money down a rat hole, what is?

You may need charity yourself one day.

Donate for research to learn the cure for cancer, HIV, MS, MD, diabetes; whichever charity speaks to you. Hopefully the cure will be found before you or someone you love is diagnosed with these illnesses.

Create a Lasting Legacy

Donate to building funds for hospitals, libraries, schools, your local church. Perhaps you aren’t rich enough to have a wing named after you, but your kids can tell your grandkids that you help build something important.

For Your Grandchildren

While we’re on the subject of grandkids, you do want them to experience clean water, fresh air, icebergs and wild animals, don’t you? Donate to environmental groups, wildlife groups, conservation groups; they’ll be glad you did.

Healthy for the Soul

It’s good to give, why else do we celebrate gift giving holidays? You don’t have to go around trumpeting how much money you give to a particular charity; you can celebrate that warm glow quietly and teach your kids to do the same. It’s only money, right? Put your money where your mouth is.

If not you, who will?

Sad but true. There are a significant number of folks who think being a cold hearted old skinflint is a sign of good character. Give to prove them wrong.

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Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.  Numbers 11:1 (NASB)

Have you ever been around someone who constantly dwells on what is wrong around them?  No matter what happens, they’re not happy.  Have you ever heard the saying “every cloud has a silver lining?”  Well, these people’s favorite saying seems to be “every silver lining has a dark cloud.”  This is what was happening to the Israelites in this week’s passage.

God had miraculously brought them out of Egypt.  He had freed them from slavery and was leading them to the excellent land that He had promised to them.  He also provided them with food for each day even though they were wandering through wilderness and what-not.

Unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough for them.  Instead of dwelling on their amazing circumstances of manna failing daily from heaven and God in a pillar of cloud guiding them, they missed Egypt!  They missed the fish they used to “eat free” and the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.  Would they really rather trade onions and leeks for freedom? (personally I wouldn’t trade a a broken CD for onions but that’s a topic for a different day)

Our situation may not be as extreme (you’re probably not reading this from the wilderness somewhere) but we often tend to fall into discontent and complaining as well.  No matter your current situation, you are most likely better off then the vast majority in this world.  Focus on what you do have not what you don’t and if you do find yourself longing for your Eqypt, be realistic in your memory.  Sure it was nice to have fish each day, but the Israelites obviously forgot about the price they paid to get those meals.  Again, get your focus off of yourself and onto God and others and you may find that your discontent drops considerably.

God bless and have a great week…

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A Journey To Financial Dependence

Wait a minute, you say, don’t you mean financial independence?  So much of what is done in the personal finance world is geared toward taking a person to that big goal of “financial independence.”  But no, you read that correctly, this is a book about financial dependence.  It makes perfect sense, actually, if you stop to think about it.  In a world of such uncertainty amidst wild stock market swings, failing banks, and unscrupulous CEOs, why strive to rely on yourself when you can achieve dependence on the one truly solid foundation – God Himself?

This small book has a interesting layout.  It is mostly a devotional book.  Various authors have contributed short writings (1-2 pages) that are to be read as independent devotions.  Interwoven among the entries, though, is a fictionalized and modernized retelling of the “Rich Young Ruler” story from the Luke 18 of the Bible.  The devotions are actually presented as journal entries that the main character in  the story is reading.  Thus you read a few short chapters of the story and then there are a number of journal entries before the next few chapters.

I like the format actually; it works for me.  I haven’t finished reading the book but I do find myself interested in its conclusion.  The main meat of the book, the devotions, are written first person by each author and include some real world stories that I find inspirational.  The main focus, of course, is dependence on God so there are a number of anecdotes about how God provided for needs in just the right amount at just the right time – I love reading those accounts!

Building Blocks of Faith

Each devotional includes a short prayer and a blurb titled Building Blocks of Faith.  I’ve found a few of those to be quite compelling as well.  The most interesting to me is “Our lack of money is just as much an answer from God as His abundance.”  Another thought-provoking one is “It’s not a matter of how much you posses, but how much your possessions matter to you.”  I found those to be two good thoughts to ponder.

To summarize, here is some information from the book’s website that I found very interesting:

The story of the rich young ruler was the perfect example of how God asks us to allow Him control over all we have. Faith and FINANCES: In God We Trust – A Journey of Financial Dependence isn’t your typical wealth-management book. It’s NOT how to build your 401K. Rather it was meant to be an example of trust—of knowing how to trust God with for and with your daily provision. God seemed to saying, “If you won’t trust me with your finances how will you ever trust me with your life?”

This was the seed for Faith and FINANCES: In God We Trust. The book is designed to allow churches to minister to congregations and encourage them to make God their financial advisor.
God instructed us, not to worry and yet when times are tight, we recoil, retreat and hide our wealth from God and each other. Financial dependence on God releases us from the burden of worry.

Little faith is hoping that God will do what He says.
Big faith is believing that God will do what He says.

But great faith, is knowing God has already done what He said He’d do.

We invite you to learn more about Faith and Finances during April and May while they tour cyberspace. To find other tour stops, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/03/02/faith-finances/ . For other details about the book or to get more information about Christian Devotions visit http://www.faithandfinances.us/. The book is for sale at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0982206542

That’s good stuff right there – the difference between little, big, and great faith.  Remember, it takes so much to achieve “financial independence” which is such a wary foothold anyway.  So many different things in our world can wipe out even great wealth in the blink of an eye.  Instead, focus on the solid foundation that is God – besides He owns everything anyway.  This is a lesson I certainly struggle with and I have been trying to move my focus from accumulating all that I can to create my own security to relying on God for His peace and security.

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Thud! That’s the sound of our net worth crashing back down to earth after two strong and unexpected months of increase.

Our assets decreased 3.3%

For those who were not paying attention at the time, there was quite an interesting day in the stock market a few weeks ago. Unfortunately for me, that happened to fall on the day that I took our net worth snap-shot for the month! Our cash dropped significantly (almost 6%) again this month but our other accounts did not increase to offset that drop. As a result, things got ugly net-worth-wise this month. We are finally (for the most part) finished with the transition of adjusting withholding and savings to go to a single salary. Unfortunately, we are still finishing the bills from our daughter’s birth and I think it all finally caught up to us this month. We simply must decrease our expenditures to stop these significant monthly drops in our cash account balances. It’s gotten to the point that we are going to go to actual cash for more expenses next month.

Our liabilities decreased 0.12%

Our mortgage dropped the standard 0.12% again this month. I mentioned last month that our mortgage payment is by far our largest payment each month. We are in the process of evaluating whether something drastic has to be done about it over the next couple months. If you asked me right now, I’d have to say that, “yes,” we need to change the mortgage somehow. We are spending too much money on the mortgage and as a result are not able to do other things that we’d like to do. The final decision won’t be made until July though, so I won’t get ahead of myself.

Our net worth dropped more than 6%

Last month I mentioned that our net worth had reached its highest level ever….well, that’s no longer true! After this month’s significant drop, we’re well below that. It’s acted like a yo-yo this entire year. I’m not concerned about our stock market accounts, though, as I expect them to bounce around. I am concerned that our cash balances continue to drop and drop at a much higher rate that I anticipated. I’m trying to increase our income but we really should do something about our expenses as well…hence the decision to actually try the cash thing next month – I guess we’ll see if all the hype for using cash is justified!

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And he said, “This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches.  For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. 2 Kings 3:16-17 (NIV)

The armies of Judah and Israel were out in the middle of the desert with no water and they were getting scared.  They were on their way to Moab but now they were concerned that they were not even going to make it to the battle.  They inquired of Elisha the prophet and this was the word passed to them from God through Elisha. Obediently, they dug the trenches and one morning they looked and mysteriously saw water coming from Edom and filling up their trenches such that they and their animals had plenty of water to drink.

And just what does this verse have to do with personal finances, you ask?  It’s a verse about “blessing” so bear with me here!  The armies needed to be blessed by God and they were, miraculously.  I’d venture that each of us would welcome a blessing from God (I know I would) whether it be in the area of finances or whatever.  So, let’s examine this passage in more detail.

First we see that the armies were concerned.  They had a big problem and didn’t know how to solve it.  Plus this problem was spilling over into other areas of their lives as they were worried they would be unsuccessful in their battle with their enemy.  Are they any big problems in your life that you don’t know how to solve? Let’s look at the steps they followed in this story:

1. Go to God: Note what they did with their problem – they went down to a prophet of God, Elisha, to find out what God was going to do in this situation.  I think that was definitely the correct decision.  If you’re facing a giant of a problem, remember that God is the biggest giant of them all.

2. Prepare for the blessing: Now the prophet told them to do something strange; he told them to dig a bunch of ditches in the middle of the desert.  This might seem like a pointless exercise to you and it might have seen pointless to them, too….but they did it.  They were obedient to God and dug the ditches.  They had to believe that God was going to give them the blessing and they had to put in some hard work to prepare for it.

The armies dug the ditches and the water came.  There is a bit more to the story though.  When the Moabites woke up they saw reflections off of the water from the early morning sun.  It reflected red so they thought they armies of Judah and Israel and Edom had attacked and killed each other.  The Moabites then rushed out to take the spoil only to be surprised and quickly defeated by the armies.

If you think about it, their biggest concern of having no water and thus losing the battle to Moab actually led to their victory!  They went to God and were obedient to Him.  As a result, their immediate need for water was taken care of and their ultimate need for victory was facilitated through the blessing.  Amazing!

So what exactly does this mean for each of us?  How exactly should we prepare for the blessing from God?  Well, that’s a hard question to answer.  I would guess it would be a very individualized answer for each one of us.  What I do know is that we need to take our concerns to God with the assurance that he cares for us and will bless us.

God bless (prepare for it!) and have a great week…

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In the wake of one of the largest earthquakes the world has ever seen, donations continue to come in by the thousands to help Haiti rebuild. While the outpouring of support has been tremendous, a tragedy like this is also an excellent opportunity for someone to take advantage. Charities continue to do excellent work in helping those that cannot afford to help themselves but for every legitimate organization, there seem to be two illegitimate ones.

Pinpointing a fraudulent charity can be difficult at times and it is certainly not an exact science, but knowing what to look for and how to handle your donations in the future, should ensure that the money you are donating goes to the people that need your help. The next time you are courted to make a donation, follow the tips below to avoid donating to scammers.

1. Never Make a Donation Over the Phone (Unless You Initiated the Call) – Legitimate charities do have a habit of cold calling for donations so many of the calls you receive could be real, however there is no way of knowing with a simple phone call if the person on the other line is who they say they are. If you are interested in their cause, ask them for the website information and offer to mail in a donation. Giving your credit card information over the phone is never a smart idea.
2. Never Make a Donation In Cash – The easiest way to lose your donation to fraud is to give them something that cannot be traced. If the organization has a booth set up, feel free to write a personal check from your online checking account. If you’re mailing in your donation, provide a money order or check written in the name of the charity. Being asked to make the donation payable to “Reggie” is an automatic no-no. For tax purposes, keeping a paper record of your donation is important. If you’re unlucky enough to donate to a scam, the IRS may audit your tax return, which is definitely something you want to avoid.
3. Never Make a Donation Through Email – Charities are fearful of being labeled as spam, so sending out mass-emails looking for donations doesn’t happen. If you ever see an email from someone stating to be a charity looking for a donation, there is an extreme amount of high-risk involved. Email is extremely un-secure and the link you click on to make your donation can take you absolutely anywhere.
4. Gather As Much Information As You Can – Before making a final decision, make sure you have gathered all of the available information there is on your charity of choice. Finding information can be easy, and doing any of the following should put your mind at ease:

Ask to see the organizations tax-exempt letter from the IRS. If they do not have one, or are unwilling to provide it, think twice about why.

Visit the charities website and look for things such as good grammar, a permanent street address, success stories, an outline of what the charities goals are, financial statements that tell you where the money goes and a board of directors. If you see that they are lacking many of the things above, it’s another sign that they might not be who they say they are.

Visit the IRS’s website and look them up. The IRS lists over 1.5 million charitable organizations that they recognize and if your charity isn’t on the list, time to move on.

If you think that you’ve been taken, you should immediately call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and file a complaint. 1-877-FTC-HELP begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-877-FTC-HELP      end_of_the_skype_highlighting (382-4357). Hopefully though, after reading the steps above to protect yourself, you never have a need for this phone number.

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Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy!  You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless.  You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor.  Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals. Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel^: “I will never forget the wicked things you have done!”  Amos 8:4-7 (NLT)

Wow, this is a pretty harsh word from God today (Amos is not exactly the cheeriest book in the Bible) – He will never forget the “wicked things” being done.  Of course, it is quite obvious that this is not the proper way to act – robbing the poor, trampling down the needy, cheating the buyer, enslaving the poor – yeah, not a great way to get on God’s good side.

What really struck me about this passage, however, is what is found in the beginning of verse 5.  The people couldn’t wait for the Sabbath to end or the religious festivals to conclude so they could get back to lying, cheating, and stealing.  That means that they were observing the Sabbath and the religious festivals!  They cared so little about their fellow man, yet they observed God’s commandments regarding the Sabbath and the festivals.  Certainly God saw right through this charade to their true character and, as it says, He would “never forget” their wickedness.

I think this is a cautionary tale relevant for our lives today as well.  This is yet another example from the Bible where the desire for monetary gain leads to sin.  Does that desire for money drive us to do things we know we should not?  Are we compartmentalizing our lives to such an extent that we could be guilty of attending church on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening but spending the remainder of the week cheating those around us for financial gain?  If so, God is not impressed by our feeble attempts to placate him by doing the whole church thing.  Remember, God doesn’t want us to “do church” He wants to us to “be the church.”  God’s church is not a building – it’s His people.

God bless and have a great week being the church…

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For some people, debt is a part of life, but when debts careen beyond control to a point where you can no longer repay, filing for personal bankruptcy is a way out. However, before you file for bankruptcy, there are important repercussions you should consider, especially facts related to your life insurance premiums.

Bankruptcy and life insurance
If you own an existing life insurance policy, it is usually left untouched by the bankruptcy court, to protect the interests of your beneficiaries. If you own a permanent life insurance, you will be allowed to retain a portion of the cash value that has accumulated on it. How much you are allowed to retain depends on where you live, because the rules are different from State to State. If you have taken out a life insurance policy on someone else like your spouse or your kids, you will have to surrender the same to the court.

Bankruptcy will affect your life insurance rate.

Most people file for bankruptcy because it wipes the slate clean and helps them to start over. It is common knowledge that a bad credit score will adversely affect life insurance premium rates. However, will bankruptcy improve the situation? Let’s explore the repercussions of bankruptcy on life insurance premium rates.

If you are already in deep debt, it makes sense to file for bankruptcy. Buying life insurance with a bad credit score is not a good idea because of the exorbitant premiums you will be charged, which in turn will worsen your financial situation. For someone in this situation, it makes sense to first file for bankruptcy, and then wait a while before applying for a life insurance.

It definitely won’t be easy then too, because life insurance companies see your bankruptcy as a lack of restraint, and being careless with your finances. They therefore have reservations about your ability to pay premiums. It usually takes about 7 to 10 years until your credit report will stop reflecting your bankruptcy.

Buying a life insurance policy after bankruptcy

Since life insurance is a purchase that can never be put off, waiting out for a decade until your credit report stops reflecting your bankruptcy is definitely not advisable. The better option is to buy a 10-year term life insurance policy. You will be paying higher premiums and it may turn out to be quite a struggle, but it is better than putting your family’s welfare at risk. The first few years on a policy are the most expensive for a life insurance company, and their high up-front costs make them very cautious when approving policies. As someone with a bad credit history, you will be considered a risky customer.

The good news is that there are term life insurance companies out there, who will look favorably on your case if they know that your bankruptcy has been completely discharged. The key is to find such companies. Luckily, with the advent of a host of online life insurance quote providers, it is not difficult to identify such companies. All you need to do is, fill up their online form as accurately as possible. Don’t forget to click ‘Yes’ when you are asked if you have filed for bankruptcy in the last 5 years. Based on the information you submit, you will be given quotes from companies that look most favorably on your bankruptcy and on other information you have submitted. These quotes are unbiased, genuine and correct because they are chosen from among hundreds of policies and reflect information in real-time.

Bankruptcy can be a very difficult experience, and you may be tempted to wait a while before getting your life insurance. However, you will risk putting your family going through dire financial hardships. Once your bankruptcy is taken off your credit report, you can request the life insurance company to review your policy, so that you can qualify for lower premiums.

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For the second month in a row, our net worth experienced a surprising bump.

Our assets increased almost 2%

Just like last month, our assets actually increased (Woohoo!).  Also just like last month, that increase was driven exclusively by the stock market.  It was a steady month as all of our accounts increased in the mid-single digit range.  As expected, however, our cash accounts dropped another 4%.  As I mentioned recently, my wife is not going to be going back to work.  Our reduced salary coupled with some temporary increased expenditures for the birth of our daughter has caused our cash accounts to drop almost 12% since the beginning of the year.  It would have been worse this month if I had not received my tax refunds and a small yearly bonus from work.  We have reduced some of our expenses, savings, and investing to get our budget more balanced so hopefully this downward trend will level off very soon.

Our liabilities decreased 0.12%

Our mortgage dropped the standard 0.12% again this month. We are no longer in a position to consider accelerating payments on our mortgage, however.  Our mortgage payment now makes up the largest of our regular monthly expenses by far.  We have decided to see how our new budget works for the next three months.  At that point in time, we will evaluate whether we need to make some drastic changes regarding our house payment (like trying to sell the house and buy a less expensive one).

Our net worth increased more than 4%!

Even with the very small decrease in mortgage principal and large drop in cash, we still ended up with a net worth increase of more than 4% this month!  In fact, our net worth is currently the highest it has ever been.  As I mentioned last month, I am trying to not worry about the financial upheaval we’re experiencing and simply focus on God and rely on Him to meet our needs.  I must admit, however, that I am getting caught up in the daily checking account balance.  I’m still very much a work in progress.

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You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses.  Haggai 1:9 (NLT)

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be blessed financially more than you?  Certainly there are myriad possible reasons for this (including maybe you are just greedy and your dearth of blessing is just in your imagination to maybe you are just greedy and God knows you would not be able to properly handle large finances).  Seriously, there are a bunch of different possibilities – too many to list in this post. This verse from Haggai, however, might explain one reason for a lack of financial blessing.

Personally, I see the theme of priorities running throughout the Bible.  As far as priority number one in our lives, that should belong to God!  We see here in this verse from Haggai that the people had gotten their priorities all out of whack.  They had been spending time and money building their “paneled houses” while the Lord’s house remained in ruins.  As we can see, God did not take kindly to that flipping of priorities and eventually diminished their harvests and blessings in order to get their attention.

Reflect on your own life and your priorities therein.  Are you mixing up your list of priorities?  Are you devoting too much of your time to pursuing your own selfish desires rather than pursuing God?  Are you giving of your firstfruits to God’s kingdom or what little is left at the end of the month?  If you don’t feel like you are experiencing God’s “abundant life,” maybe it is because those priorities are not lined up with God’s – just something to ponder.

God bless and have a great week…

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Big changes

Allow me to explain…my wife gave birth to our fourth child two months ago.  Since then I’ve mentioned in multiple posts that she was going to be off work for a few months.  Now, she was only working two days a week but she is an Endocrinologist in private practice so that still represents a significant amount of money that she contributes to the household income.  We recently decided, however, that she is not going back to work next month.  For the first time, she is going to be a full-time stay at home mom (or as I like to refer to her: a trophy wife).

Of course this means significant changes around the BFN household.  Since this is a PF blog, let’s get to the financial stuff – it means a 36% decrease in gross income for our family. While our income is not quite cut in half, I think you would agree that such a sizable decrease will require some adjustment.

When we first started discussing how our budget would change, I mentioned that we would now contribute less to our church and missions and other charitable organizations.  Our percentage of giving is 12% this year so naturally we would reduce overall giving to be 12% of my salary instead of 12% of both of our salaries.  Well, she did not want to reduce the amount we give to missionaries because they personally rely on that money.  Ok, that’s valid.  “The only way we can drop our giving down to 12% then is to cut the amount we give to our local church significantly,” I told her.  Well, she didn’t want to do that either.

Our math or God’s math?

“Why don’t we just keep giving what we’ve been giving?” she asked me.  “Because we can’t,” I replied, “the numbers don’t add up.  We just can’t do that.”  Of course, I’m sure you all know what she was going to say next, “Doesn’t the Bible tell us that God will meet our needs?”  “Yes, but this is crazy.  I mean, that’s a lot of money each month!”

I went away from the meeting without giving much thought to her proposal.  I even altered our automatic donations to match up with the new numbers.  Now I had always thought it would be awesome to give a much larger percentage of our income than 10% but that would be when I was making my millions and had more opportunity to give.  Then I started thinking and praying and going to Iron Sharpen Iron events, and reading The Treasure Principle.  My initial reaction when I seriously started considering keeping our giving at the same level was fright.  How in the world could we give that much money without going way over budget each month?  I mean, we hadn’t even balanced the budget in the first place since the transition and now we’d be hiking it up hundreds more each month.

Why not?

And then I started thinking things like, “Why don’t we try this?  Why don’t we try giving more than our budget says we should?” And then I got excited (really, I did).  What would God do with that?  Would he provide opportunities for us to earn more money to keep up our giving?  Would He enable us to reduce our expenses?

So last week, I changed the automatic contributions back to what they were when my wife was still working.  The current plan jumps our giving from 12% of gross main career (”real job”) income to about 18%. I’ve always given 20% of my side-work income (this blog provides a bit but the majority of that income is generated through website design, development, and maintenance) though that income has so far not amounted to more than a couple thousand dollars a year.  Now, I don’t want to overstate this; it’s not like this will cause us to not be able to put food on the table.  Neither will we be challenging Bill Gates in how much money we’re giving away (not yet, at least).

Now what?

I have no idea what God is going to do with us through this.  I do know that he promises to meet our needs, so I’m counting on our needs continuing to be met.

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19 (NASB)

Ok, I admit I’m still scared by the idea, but not nearly as much as I was a few weeks ago.  Frankly, I consider verses such as the verse from Ephesians below and I am excited to see how He will accomplish meeting our needs.  I’m curious to see what else comes out of this as well…hopefully something awesome through which we can give glory to God!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Only time will tell how this actually works out for us.  As of now, the budget does not balance. We’ve taken out some of the fat and reduced some savings, but the biggest area of spending now is our housing costs.  We’ve decided to continue with this plan for three months and then re-evaluate our situation.  If we’re still not making the budget work, we will have to consider more significant changes to the budget at that point – mostly focused on our housing.

Frankly, I’d love for you to join us in attempting this.  Even so, I’m inviting you to keep up with how we’re doing.  I’ll give periodic updates and I’m hoping that through this effort some others will be inspired to rely on God and attempt something similar.

You can’t outgive God

As I prepared my review of The Treasure Principle yesterday, I re-read with great interest a statement from Alcorn that I put into the review: “The more you give, the more comes back to you, because God is the greatest giver in the universe, and he won’t let you outgive Him, Go ahead and try.  See what happens.”  We’re going to go ahead and try…we’ll see what happens.

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By Randy Alcorn

BFN Book Reviews

Again, it is has been quite a while since I last wrote a BFN book review.  And that’s too bad because I do enjoy reading books and I have actually read a number of titles (well, not just the titles but all the pages too) over the past few months.  Anyway, I was poking around my good friend Brian’s office a few weeks ago and saw a book on his shelf that I’ve been meaning to read.  So, I snatched it…no, not really, I was granted permission to borrow The Treasure Principle…and I did borrow it and I did read it.

What is this book about?

This book is not your typical personal finance book.  You won’t find a step-by-step guide to get out of debt or save for retirement or any such thing.  Rather, the purpose of the book is much more grandiose.  This volume seeks to change the focus of basically your entire life.  The back cover trumpets “Once you discover this secret, life will never look the same.”  That secret revolves around giving and the joy that can be associated with it.

Who is the author?

Randy Alcorn has written a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction alike.  Besides writing a few novels, his non-fiction works cover various topics including Heaven and stewardship.  In fact, you have most likely heard of another one of his books, Money, Possessions, and Eternity.  He is also the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, whose two main goals are to teach the principles of God’s Word, emphasizing an eternal viewpoint; and to reach the needy in Christ’s name.

What are the best parts of the book?

This is a great little book – I have a lot of good to say about it.  First, it is a small book and I found it to be well written.  Those two combine to make it a very quick and enjoyable read.  The principles discussed within are profound and thought provoking as well thus making it a worthwhile read as well.

The author discloses his main Treasure Principle and then backs it up with six keys to the treasure principle. Allow me to share them with you and touch briefly on each one.

Alcorn mentions that Jesus devoted 15% of His teaching in the Bible to money and possessions – more than heaven and hell combined!  It therefore must be very important; in fact, it is central to our spiritual lives.  Perhaps you have seen this quote from Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  This sets the stage for the author to disclose his Treasure Principle:

You can’t take it with you – but you can send it on ahead

Treasure Principle Key #1: God owns everything. I’m his money manager

Consider these verses in support of key #1:  The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1).  “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the LORD Almighty (Haggai 2:8).  Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Treasure Principle Key #2: My heart always goes where I put God’s money.

“Show me your checkbook, your VISA statement, and your receipts, and I’ll show you where your heart is.”  The author suggests that, for instance, if you want to have more of a heart for spiritual things, say international missions, then allocate more of your money, maybe most of your money, to missions and your heart and your interest will naturally follow.

Treasure Principle Key #3: Heaven, not earth, is my home.

Where we choose to store our treasures shows where our hearts are.   Are you storing them here on earth or up in heaven for your arrival there?  In the book there is an hypothetical example of a person who lives in France but is visiting the US for three months.  At the end of the three months, he will return home to France but will be unable to take anything back with him.  Should he waste his time and resources filling his US dwelling with expensive furniture and such only to leave it all behind when he returns to France? Or should he send most of his money back to France?  Remember, he who dies with the most toys, still dies.  We will eventually leave this earth and when we do, everything we own here on earth will remain here on earth.

Treasure Principle Key #4: I should live not for the dot but for the line.

This key requires a bit of explanation.  Consider the image to left.  The dot represents your very brief life here on earth.  The line, in contrast, represents your eternal life in heaven.  Focus not on the short time you’ll spend here on earth but the very, very, very long time you’ll spend in eternity.

Treasure Principle Key #5: Giving is the only antidote to materialism.

The author contends that giving shifts our focus from us and from our stuff to God and also affirms His Lordship.  Consider this quote from C.S. Lewis:

We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea.  We are far too easily pleased.

We settle for a life of unsatisfying material possessions instead of focusing on heaven.  The remedy for this is to shift that focus and the means to accomplish it is through giving.

Treasure Principle Key #6: God prospers not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

The author prompts you to consider why God has given us so much in our modern day society.  Even those in the middle income levels in the US are drastically more wealthy than most people in history.  Remember Jesus’ words:

Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  Luke 6:38

Alcorn states, “The more you give, the more comes back to you, because God is the greatest giver in the universe, and he won’t let you outgive Him, Go ahead and try.  See what happens.”  Have you ever asked God why He has given you so much?  Consider this:

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.  You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.  2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (emphasis mine).

There is a lot more to this book than just the Treasure Principle and its six supporting keys. For instance, Alcorn discusses a number of other corollary topics such as:

• Should you give now or save up to give more later?
• What about leaving a large inheritance to your children?
• Five minutes after you die, what will you wish you would have given away while you could have?

31 Radical, Liberating Questions to Ask God

Alcorn completes the book by presenting 31 questions to ask God surrounding your giving.  These are some serious, thought-provoking, soul-searching questions here.  Though the book is small and a quick read overall, you will spend a great deal of time on this last section if you wholeheartedly tackle each question.  Here is but a taste of them:

6. Lord, I’m wondering: Why have You entrusted me with greater financial blessings that I once had? I guess I’ve assumed You’ve done it to raise my standard of living.  But now I’m asking “Is it instead to raise my standard of giving?” …

8. Lord, I’ve sometimes wondered why You’re not blessing me more financially.  Could it be that I’ve been spending money on myself first, rather than giving You the firstfruits of what You’ve provided?

What is not-so-good about the book?

There is not much to complain about in this book, actually.  It’s well written, thought-provoking, a quick and enjoyable read.  It even has the 31 questions to go through as an exercise if you like books with steps to accomplish.  I guess the worst thing is that it might challenge you to change the way you live…and most people aren’t comfortable considering such changes!

So what is my recommendation?

This is a great little book and definitely worth a read.  In fact, I’m putting it into my virtual bookshelf of must-read books.  Remember, this is not a step by step how-to book.  This book might be one that you want to purchase and keep handy so you can periodically pick it up.  If you feel like you are getting off track, you can read a bit to remind yourself about the treasure principle.

The book is a lot more than just the keys I listed above.  There are many worthwhile anecdotes, quotes, and explanations stuffed into its small binding.  I’ve mentioned multiple times that it is a small book but there is so much in here.  I’ve spent more than 1500 words describing it and have barely scratched the surface of its supporting material.  I think the best way to put it is that the book is “dense.”  Read it!

Want to borrow this book? Search your local library

Want your own copy? Buy this book now at Amazon.com

Check out the books I’ve chosen for my virtual bookshelf

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For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

A few days ago, we remembered Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified and died for each of our sins about two-thousand years ago.  On that day, I shared with you the first part of Romans 6:23 reminding us all that our sin produces eternal separation from God.  Yesterday, we celebrated Easter – the day that Jesus defeated death and actually rose from his grave!  Easter enables me to share the rest of the story, as it were.  Yes, it is true that sin produces death, but Jesus has overcome this.  Now, it is also true that God, though Jesus, has provided for us the free gift of eternal life with God in heaven!

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (NLT)

Of course, you have to receive a gift and Romans 10:9 tells us how to do that.  While it is true that God provides us this free gift, it is still remarkably hard for some to simply accept it.  I think this second verse tells us why – because you have to confess that Jesus is Lord and our pride typically makes is very hard to do this.  Dictionary.com shows the definition of lord as “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.”  It is very difficult for a person to cede that authority and control to someone else, even if it is God.  Thus many people end up “doing” stuff to gain God’s favor so that they can earn eternal life.  They want the life, they just also want the control.  Unfortunately, you can’t have both.

Furthermore, you also have to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead which is certainly a fantastic claim.  Getting into the details of all the claims against and evidence for the resurrection is a discussion for another forum.  Personally, I do believe that it did occur and that it was an amazing, supernatural, out-of-the-ordinary event.  Then again, is a God worthy of worship and praise if He can’t accomplish the fantastic supernatural every once in a while?

I leave you with what I found to be a very profound quote that speaks directly to this topic:

“The evidence for Jesus’ resurrection is so strong that nobody would question it except for two things: First, it is a very unusual event.  And second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live.”  Wolfhart Pannenberg

God bless, accept the Gift, and have a great week…

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For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Romans 3:23 (NLT)

For the wages of sin is death Romans 6:23a (NLT)

If you look at the story painted by these two Bible verses, it is not a pretty one.  First, “everyone” sins.  Everyone.  Not only that guy sitting in prison, but also me.  Also you!  We all fall short of the standard that God has set for his creation.

So we all sin, so what?  So, our just reward for sin is death, that’s what!  Everyone dies, so what does “death” mean in this verse.  Death means eternal separation from God.  You may have heard it referred to as “the second death.”  Everyone dies here on earth where we proceed to heavenly judgment.  If you fall short of the mark there, then you’re in real trouble and you get to experience the rest of eternity absent from God.

Remember, the earth right now is a fallen place, it is messed up because of Adam’s original sin; this is not the way things were meant to be.  That being said, the world still has people in it who love God, people who are imbued by the Holy Spirit.  God still works in this world.  And if you think our world is bad now, can you imagine what a place would be like that is completely separated from God or any of His influence?

Today we remember the day that Jesus was crucified.  It was maybe the darkest day in the history of creation.  It happened in part because of the two verses above.

To be continued…

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For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 2 Corinthians 8:3-4 (NIV)

Wow, what a verse, what a story!  This is basically the opposite of what we see in Malachi 3 where God is rebuking his children for not giving their entire tithe to Him.  Yes, we see quite the opposite here as the Macedonian churches gave not only all that they were able, but even more than that! The idea of “giving more than one is able” immediately brings two questions to my mind: what does that mean and do people do that here in America 2010?

What does it mean to give beyond one’s ability?  I think it means that you create your budget (or spending plan for my “budget-averse” readers) allocating your giving first, and then balancing the rest of it.  You make sure that you give enough, save enough, and have enough to pay all your other bills and do what you plan to do that month.  Then you give more! (What?! That’s crazy talk!)  You give more than your budget says that you are able.  The numbers no longer add up to zero at the bottom of your painstakingly crafted, previously beautifully balanced budget.

Then you wait…

You wait to see what God is going to do with the extra you’ve given to Him.  You wait to see what God is going to do with you.  You may recall a recent Weekly Bible Verse where I discussed that God promises to meet your needs.  So you wait to see how God will meet your needs this month.  Maybe He blesses you with opportunities that you had not even considered.  Maybe he opens you to contentment and teaches you that your actual “needs” are less than you originally thought they were.  I do not know and I’m sure it is different for each person who boldly attempts this.

Do people actually do this?

That’s what it means to give more than one is able to…so onto my second question.  Do people do this today in our affluent societies?  I honestly do not know.  Considering that statistics show that very few Christians actually tithe (give 10%), I would guess that the number of those that give beyond their ability is quite minuscule.  I’m sure some people do it, but I would guess not many.  Do you?  Why not?

God bless and have a great week…

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